Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules 28^th February  2019

International Conventions

Capture of IAF pilot: What you need to know about the Geneva conventions 

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about Geneva convention ) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations

What’s the NEWS

• The international protocol prohibits combat prisoners from being tortured and lays down the standards to be followed on treating them humanely
• Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the Indian Air Force shot down a Pakistani Air Force fighter aircraft, after Islamabad targeted military installations on India’s side of the border.
• “In this engagement, we have lost one MiG 21,” he said, adding that the pilot was “missing in action”.
• As India made clear to the Pakistani diplomat, his country is obligated by the Geneva Conventions, to which Islamabad is a signatory to treat a combat prisoner with dignity.
  

• The Geneva Conventions are set of four international treaties that lay out the standards to be followed by signatories on treating enemies humanely during war time.
• These conventions were developed in the first half of the 20th century, first in 1929 and updated in 1949 after the conclusion of the Second World War.
• The conventions are exhaustive. They provide detailed procedures for the treatment of prisoners of wars and of civilians captured by the enemy during combat. Though primarily a document used during war, the signatories are bound by the provisions in peacetime as well.
• As per the clauses of the Geneva Conventions, Pakistan has a duty to give him medical care and protection.
  

• Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention.
• In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the prisoner concerned and carried out in his interest.
• Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.
• This provision has been interpreted by the International Committee of Red Cross as prohibiting release of photos and videos of a person deemed a combat prisoner.

• The most recent incident of an Indian Air Force pilot being captured by Pakistan occured during the Kargil war in 1999.
• Group Captain K Nachiketa had to eject from his aircraft after an engine failure at high altitude. He was captured by Pakistani soldiers. India then went to the United Nations and put enormous international pressure to secure his release about eight days after his capture.

The Parents Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and Monitoring (PRANAM) Bill
Relevance IN – Prelims ( about PRANAM )
 
What’s the NEWS

• The Assam government formed a three-member commission for hearing cases under a pay-cut policy envisaged to make its employees take care of their dependent elderly parents and physically challenged siblings.
• The three-member PRANAM (Parents Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and Monitoring) Commission is headed by Chief Commissioner V.B. Pyarelal.
  

Know! more about PRANAM bill

• PRANAM Bill, which was approved by the state cabinet last year, makes it mandatory for state government employees to look after their parents and unmarried differently abled siblings who do not have their own sources of income.
• The  policy acts as a deterrent for employees who have been ignoring their parents and physically challenged siblings
• The policy, enforced on October 2 last year, said an employee would be liable to part with 10-15% of his or her pay if found guilty of ignoring their dependent parents and physically challenged siblings.
• The deducted money would then be transferred to the bank account of a parent or sibling.
• The Commission’s job would be to weigh each complaint, hear both parties and decide whether or not an employee deserves to be penalised.
• As per the Bill, if the PRANAM Commission gets a complaint that parents of a state government employee is being ignored, then 10 or 15 per cent of the employee's salary will be deducted by the government and paid to the parents or differently abled siblings.

Economic Development

RBI takes 3 banks off prompt corrective action framework
Relevance IN – Prelims ( about PCA framework ) + Mains ( GS II economic development)

• Three more banks — Allahabad Bank and Corporation Bank, from the public sector, and Dhanlaxmi Bank from the private sector — are now out of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) prompt and corrective action (PCA) framework.
• Earlier, such restrictions were taken off Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of Maharashtra.
• There are another six banks that are still under PCA framework.
• The Board for Financial Supervision (BFS) reviewed the performance of the banks under PCA and noted that these two banks had received capital infusion from the government.
• According to norms, PCA framework gets triggered when a bank breaches one of the three risk thresholds. Crossing 6% net NPA is one of them.
• RBI also decided to take Dhanlaxmi Bank out of PCA , as the bank was found not to be breaching any of the risk thresholds of the framework.

• Prompt corrective action (PCA) framework PCA framework is supervisory tool of RBI, which involves monitoring of certain performance indicators of banks to check their financial health as early warning exercise and to ensure that banks don’t go bust.
• Its objective is to facilitate banks to take corrective measures including those prescribed by RBI, in timely manner to restore their financial health.
• PCA framework is invoked on banks when they breach any of three key regulatory trigger points (or thresholds).
• They are capital to risk weighted assets ratio, net non-performing assets (NPA) and Return on Assets (RoA).
• Depending on risk thresholds set in PCA framework, banks are put in two type of restrictions, mandatory and discretionary depending upon their placement in PCA framework levels.
• The mandatory restrictions are on dividend, branch expansion, directors compensation while discretionary restrictions include curbs on lending and deposition

Factoids

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for Science and Technology
Relevance IN – Prelims ( about the prize )

• The Prime Minister will attend the award ceremony for the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, on 28 February 2019.
• The Prime Minister will confer the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for 2016, 2017 and 2018 to the awardees.
  

• The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, chemistry, environmental science, engineering, mathematics, medicine and Physics.
• The purpose of the prize is to recognize outstanding Indian work (according to the view of CSIR awarding committee) in science and technology. It is the most coveted award in multidisciplinary science in India.
• The award is named after the founder Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. It was first awarded in 1958.
• Any citizen of India engaged in research in any field of science and technology up to the age of 45 years is eligible for the prize.
• The prize is awarded on the basis of contributions made through work done in India only during the five years preceding the year of the prize.
• The prize comprises a citation, a plaque, and a cash award of ₹5 lakh (US$7,000). In addition, recipients also get Rs. 15,000 per month up to the age of 65 years.

NITI Aayog

• NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Adobe  signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) to collectively drive the charter of developing creative skills and spreading digital literacy across all Atal Tinkering Labs in India.
  

• Adobe shall be adopting 100 schools under Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) initiative.
• Further, Adobe shall be implementing its Digital Disha Program in ATLs , under which free licenses of Adobe Spark premium shall be offered to ATLs.

• Launched in 2018, the Adobe Digital Disha Programme is aimed at driving synergies in creative thinking and technology-based learning.
• Under this collaboration with AIM, children and teachers across these schools and communities shall benefit from creative learning resources, thereby empowering them with new age skills to thrive in the current digital era and preparing them for long term success.

• AIM is the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• As a part of AIM, ATLs are being established in more than 5,000 schools in India where students of class 6th to class 12th acquire problem solving and innovation skills, developing innovative solutions leveraging Tinkering technologies like 3D printers, robotics, miniaturised electronics, IOT and programming, do it yourself kits with support from teachers.
• The Atal Tinkering Lab is based on the philosophy to identify and nurture innovation in young students across the country.
• Towards this endeavour, AIM has collaborated with various partners from industry and academia. Such collaborations have resulted in qualitative enhancement of future skills and digital capabilities of the ATL ecosystem.
• The Atal Innovation Mission proactively seeks to promote scientific temper and the spirit of entrepreneurship in a New India of tomorrow.